The CTA Observatory

Abstract: Ground-based gamma-ray astronomy has experienced a major breakthrough in the last decade thanks to the advent of new generation instruments such as H.E.S.S., MAGIC, Milagro and VERITAS. A large variety of cosmic particle accelerators has been unveiled, comprising supermassive black holes in the centres of active galaxies, nearby star forming galaxies, Galactic supernova remnants and pulsar wind nebulae, and stellar binary systems housing a compact object. While current instruments revealed the tips of the non-thermal icebergs in our Universe, a factor of 10 increase in sensitivity, improved angular resolution and an extended energy coverage is required to fully explore and understand the physics of cosmic particle acceleration. The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will provide these performances, by deploying two arrays of Cherenkov telescopes in the northern and southern hemispheres, allowing full-sky coverage. In this paper we summarize the project status and present the science prospects of the CTA observatory.